ALIVE : Vegan Gourmet at The Farm San Benito

In culinary school, I recall a co-student of mine being a vegetarian. She got a lot of smirks and negative remarks from the chef instructors. To a lot of French chefs it was preposterous NOT to eat meat. One chef even told her tactlessly, " Then what are you here (in culinary school)?". Tsk tsk! I began to wonder what drives people to this type of lifestyle. I tried to imagine life without meat... what a sad, sad life :( It must be really tough to abstain from all the juicy medium rare primeribs, dry-aged steaks, yakiniku jo karubi, pork belly buns, etc. For some, it would be absolute torture. 

About a month ago, I was enlightened about this through our detox getaway at The Farm San Benito in Batangas. It's about 20 minutes away from my workplace at Cintai Corito's Garden (www.coritosgarden.com). 

The ALIVE restaurant inside The Farm totally changed my perspective about being Vegan.  They serve organic, raw and exquisite cuisine and is described as the healthiest restaurant in the Philippines.

I grabbed this photo from the The Farm's website because I wasn't able to take a picture of the place. I was so engrossed with the food. 

Mantra : Simplicity and Freshness.

We took a stroll in the garden where they harvest their vegetables that they serve in the resto daily.

Joel had the 3-course Dinner Special (Php 950 ++) which started with an eggplant caviar with cheese wheat bread stick and melon papaya salad. It was followed by a

I went with the ala carte menu. For starters, I had the Romaine Lettuce with Caesar Dressing, Sesame Gormacio and Walnut Crumble (Php 285 ++). The dressing was a tad too salty for me but the combination of the wakami strips, walnuts, beansprouts and crunchy freshly-picked lettuce was delectable.

My main course was their  Soba Noodles with Stir fried Veggies (Php 360.00++). It was light, tasty and satisfying.

The next morning, Joel and I were off to an early Yoga session;

The calming scenery

It was an hour and half long session (30 minutes was just pure meditation). Just listening to the sounds of nature and focusing on your breathing was extremely soothing and overly calming. It was something I desperately needed at that time. Namaste.

We were then ready to indulge in a healthy breakfast (which was part of the package) to compliment our yoga session.

For starters, Joel had the Tropical Fruits with Yogurt while I had the Season Fruit Platter (Mango, Pineapple, Papaya and Watermelon). 

Then we both had the granola cereal bowl with nuts, prunes and sliced bananas accompanied by fresh coconut cream. A real treat...and a fibrous one at that! *wink* I will probably start making this a habit at home! 

As for our specials (third course) hubby got the corn pancakes with toasted sesame seeds and bananas.

I sampled the Italian scrambled tofu with roasted potatoes. Again, simple (I'm beginning to sound redundant here but it's really the best word to describe the food) and clean flavors that worked wonderfully together. 

The 2-day experience opened my eyes and allowed me to take a paradigm shift on eating healthy and staying away from meat (seafood/beef/etc.). Joel and I loved it so so much. If we could afford it, we would want to do this detox monthly and make it a routine. Who knows? Maybe in a few years, I will slowly move on to the other side (bye bye cows!)? Just a thought...

Cheers to embracing a healthy lifestyle! :)

The Farm at San Benito
119 Barangay Tipakan
4217 Lipa City, Batangas
Philippines

Tel: +63 2 884 8074
Cell: +63 918 884 8078
Hotline Number:+63 918 884 8080

Website: http://www.thefarm.com.ph/

Hours:

Everyday 7am-10pm